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MEMORABLE PLAYER EXPERIENCES WITH POKÉMON GO

Elina Koskinen



 

When Pokémon GO (Niantic, 2016) was released in 2016, it quickly rose to the top of the most downloaded and profitable mobile apps. The game’s massive and unprecedented success provided an opportunity to study the gaming experiences of a mainstream location-based game with an exceptionally large and diverse player base. Although other location-based games themed around well-known brands have been released since Pokémon GO, their popularity and financial success have been much more limited. Pokémon GO has been studied from various perspectives, but players' personal accounts of their experiences have scarcely been explored in the research literature.


This dissertation examines memorable player experiences with location-based games through Pokémon GO. It is based on a qualitative survey dataset from Finland (n=2400), collected seven weeks after the European launch of Pokémon GO, when the initial peak of the game's popularity was still fresh in players' minds. The social atmosphere and sense of community created by Pokémon GO in its early days formed a unique phenomenon that is difficult to replicate. The game lowered the threshold for interacting with strangers in ways and situations where players might normally avoid interaction. Thanks to the playful nature encouraged by Pokémon GO, the game fostered a variety of positive experiences between family members—such as parents and children, partners, and siblings—by creating new and supporting existing forms of interaction. The game significantly influenced the gaming experiences and accessibility of middle-aged players, a group that traditionally played less, with some considering Pokémon GO their first video game experience.


Based on the research, it is argued that memorable player experiences with location-based games can be divided into four main dimensions: the game itself, the physical context of play, the social context, and the players' engagement with the game. Pokémon GO demonstrated a remarkable ability to transform both physical spaces, through how people inhabited them, and social atmospheres, through how people interacted with each other more openly. The game also led some players to dedicate themselves to playing in a way that altered their behavior in public spaces. Therefore, the concept of the gaming experience within the context of digital games must be reconsidered. Traditionally, this experience has been thought to occur between the player and the screen. It is argued that the gaming experience also emerges from a broader context that includes the physical environment, the people in it, and the player's interactions with both the people and the environment. The nature of this interaction stems from the game, which influences behavior.

 

PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE

BINDING

EDITION

ISBN

YEAR

PAGES

English

eBook


9789520337636

2025

194

 

TAGS


Publishers: #TampereUniversity (Tampere University)

Languages: #English

Format: #eBook

Accessibility: N/A

Year: #Year2025

Genres: #GameStudies


Companies:

N/A


Public Figures:

N/A


Games:

#Pokémon (Pokémon Go)


Misc:

N/A

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